PLANS to strip private boarding schools of tax breaks risks making them ‘second class charities’, ministers have been warned.

The Scottish Government has also been told the proposals undermine legislation which regulates all charities.

The concerns are raised in a series of emails from civil servants and officials from the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR) revealed under freedom of information legislation.

Because private boarding schools are charities they qualify for an 80 per cent discount on business rates, but a review last year set up by the Scottish Government recommended the relief should be abolished.